Microsoft 'Looking At' Bringing Office to Apple's Mac App Store

[John.B]

I have doubts that Microsoft would release Office for iPad. It's just one of the really exclusive apps for its WP7 phones so I don't think they'd just give that away. The compatibility between Office for Windows/Mac and WP7 Office is incredible. I made a very complex presentation with almost a hundred animations throughout, and it played back on my WP7 flawlessly (for free) as it did on my PC.

What seems to have changed in Redmond is that the business units are being asked to stand on their own. Office doesn't exist only as a market tool for the WP7 team. My guess is that the Office team will have iOS versions if they thing they can sell them to the millions of iPhone/iPad users, vs. just the thousands of WP7 owners.

I am curious how many people you have huddled around your smartphone watching your presentation...

BTW, the corporate MS teams are still shilling the WinMo 6.5 platform to corporate IT departments with custom development needs.

Opened it in Keynote (for 9.99) on my iPad, 4/5 of the animations didn't work, half the images didn't load, and the font got screwed up despite it being one of the most generic fonts out there. Maybe Apple has a thing or two to learn about obeying standards. Not just for Keynote, but for the web too perhaps.

You do know that all the variants of Microsoft IE are a major reason there are issues with web standards? That WebKit based browsers (like Mobile Safari, etc.) are the ones most compatible with HTML5? Just a guess here... Web development isn't what you do for a living?

As far as your little presentation, AFAIK Keynote for the iPad doesn't promise 100% compatibility. Sounds like you dropped ten bucks on an app without researching what you were buying. Who's fault is that? Would you buy Word expecting it to open a PDF file natively?

 

[JAT]

This is the exact kind of infantile attitude that needs to go. Anything that needs to be done, can be done with either application. The only things that can't be done, are in house formulas written in excel, for excel.

No, any SUM that needs to be done can be done with either app. Some people write programs with Excel. Some people analyze data with pivot tables with Excel. Some people automate repeated tasks to increase productivity and, believe it or not, increase morale. (because doing the exact same thing 20 times a day sucks, use a macro)

None of those can be done in Numbers so far, and the list could be far longer. If you don't need to do these things, fine. But don't tell people they are childish for being able to make use of real features. Numbers is ok when I have to tweak a file at home or something. But when I create a serious file, it falls short. Hell, even Excel 2011 can't handle some of my 2007/2010 spreadsheets, something I have to look into. Damn ActiveX or whatever it's called.

I would bet I can do more in Numbers than you, and I've only used it a few times. My attitude comes from 2 decades of work experience with many spreadsheet programs. What's yours based on? Didja sleep at a Holiday Inn Express once?

 

[vladi]

Comparing the Pages Bar and the Word Ribbon. I personally think the Ribbon isn't rocket science and it beats all those floating windows. The Pages Bar is a waste of space.

If we are going to be honest true problem here lays in outdated OS X interface which is not very efficient and thus makes both apps looks super stupid and incoherent. Word is so much better experience on PC, that doesn't say much but its sad in the end.

Just think about it most apps still have blank unused space between window control buttons and toolbar hide button. Even Apple apps. That is a waste of space. Adobe did it right with CS5 by incorporating some of the features in between.

I hope that fullscreen in Lion helps Mac interface significantly cause working with app windows like they are right now is nothing but a drag in 2011. As a matter of fact fullscreen should have been introduced couple of years ago it was a logical evolution but I guess they were busy with iOS. Mac designers let their interface get stale really quick (for gods sake aqua is still around and that was cool a decade ago)

Bottom line is floating panels and windows are something that will go away eventually and rightfully so. When that happens iWork and Office will kick ass as far as the user experience goes.

 

[mKTank]

What seems to have changed in Redmond is that the business units are being asked to stand on their own. Office doesn't exist only as a market tool for the WP7 team. My guess is that the Office team will have iOS versions if they thing they can sell them to the millions of iPhone/iPad users, vs. just the thousands of WP7 owners.

Two million, bub, and we get it for free with the phone, unlike Apple which wants you to pay 30 bucks extra.

 

[cmaier]

Two million, bub, and we get it for free with the phone, unlike Apple which wants you to pay 30 bucks extra.

Of course you get it free. That's the only thing Microsoft is good at - illegally leveraging a monopoly in one market (office suites) to obtain marketshare in another market.

So far, however, it's apparently not working so well for them this time, as even microsoft admits sales have been a giant pile of suck.

 

[roadbloc]

Of course you get it free. That's the only thing Microsoft is good at - illegally leveraging a monopoly in one market (office suites) to obtain marketshare in another market.

So far, however, it's apparently not working so well for them this time, as even microsoft admits sales have been a giant pile of suck.

[citation needed]

 

[cmaier]

[citation needed]

http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/201...pments-topped-two-million-units-last-quarter/

Gruber's take on it:

Ina Fried, quoting Microsoft Senior Product Manager Greg Sullivan:

Sales are an important measure of success over the long term, but perhaps not even the best indicator of the platform’s long-term success, Sullivan said.

“One of the key ways that we’ll measure success of Windows Phone is did we ship a phone people love,” he said, pointing to its customer satisfaction data that said that 93 percent of early customers are “satisfied” or “very satisfied,” adding, “That’s a really great number.”

Translation: Not selling well at all.

 

[mKTank]

http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/201...pments-topped-two-million-units-last-quarter/

Gruber's take on it:

Ina Fried, quoting Microsoft Senior Product Manager Greg Sullivan:

Sales are an important measure of success over the long term, but perhaps not even the best indicator of the platform’s long-term success, Sullivan said.

“One of the key ways that we’ll measure success of Windows Phone is did we ship a phone people love,” he said, pointing to its customer satisfaction data that said that 93 percent of early customers are “satisfied” or “very satisfied,” adding, “That’s a really great number.”

Translation: Not selling well at all.

Translation: fanboy misinterpreting articles on purpose or maybe he's just that daft.

 

[cmaier]

Translation: fanboy misinterpreting articles on purpose or maybe he's just that daft.

You're kidding, right? You don't think that "um, well, yeah, we view our success in terms of customer satisfaction, not sales [as opposed to shipments]" is an indication that these things aren't selling? Heck, even if they sold 2 million (they didn't) that's a drop in the bucket.

 

[mKTank]

You're kidding, right? You don't think that "um, well, yeah, we view our success in terms of customer satisfaction, not sales [as opposed to shipments]" is an indication that these things aren't selling? Heck, even if they sold 2 million (they didn't) that's a drop in the bucket.

Your argument so far has been the dumbest load of text I've ever read.

They have sold 2 million in 3 months, which is a ton more than the iPhone 2G and the G1 sold in the same time span. 2 Million. That is not a low number, especially given that it's an entirely new platform. The 90+% figure is just icing to the cake.

 

[John.B]

Two million, bub, and we get it for free with the phone, unlike Apple which wants you to pay 30 bucks extra.

Two million where? In the channel? Or sold and activated? Because the word on the street is that there are a lot of people disappointed in the actual WP7 sales figures. Is this going to be like the brown Zunes, where they finally sold them at firesale prices? That's a little harder to do with smartphones that are routinely saddled with 2-year contracts...

Back to WP7 and Office, I doubt Microsoft would be giving away anything they felt they could sell. Either that means the software isn't worth the cash (which I actually don't believe) or that there won't be a sufficient hardware base to sell in to (which is what I expect is true). This has the fingerprints of monkeyboy all over it, forcing a profitable business unit to prop up an unprofitable one.

BTW, I work with MS enterprise licensing at my job. What I said before still stands. If Office on WP7 is the future, then why is MS still marketing WinMo 6.x as a viable platform for corporate IT integration? I didn't see anything in the latest "road map" dog-and-pony-show that would lead me to think WP7 with free Office apps was the future for the corporate markets they milk most of their revenues from (the most profitable revenues, OBTW).

 

[mKTank]

Two million where? In the channel? Or sold and activated? Because the word on the street is that there are a lot of people disappointed in the actual WP7 sales figures. Is this going to be like the brown Zunes, where they finally sold them at firesale prices? That's a little harder to do with smartphones that are routinely saddled with 2-year contracts...

Back to WP7 and Office, I doubt Microsoft would be giving away anything they felt they could sell. Either that means the software isn't worth the cash (which I actually don't believe) or that there won't be a sufficient hardware base to sell in to (which is what I expect is true). This has the fingerprints of monkeyboy all over it, forcing a profitable business unit to prop up an unprofitable one.

BTW, I work with MS enterprise licensing at my job. What I said before still stands. If Office on WP7 is the future, then why is MS still marketing WinMo 6.x as a viable platform for corporate IT integration? I didn't see anything in the latest "road map" dog-and-pony-show that would lead me to think WP7 with free Office apps was the future for the corporate markets they milk most of their revenues from (the most profitable revenues, OBTW).

Lots of estimates put it at around 1.8 sold to consumers, and 2.0 shipped in general. The WP7 sales figures are not disappointing. It's a new platform and has had much stronger initial momentum thus far than iPhone and Android did given the same time span. At the very least, people shouldn't give up on it yet.

On the other hand, Microsoft should step up their game a little bit and release some goddamn updates. It's ridiculous how slow they're being with this first update.

Also, for the general consumer, WP7 is better than WM6.x. But in the enterprise space, as WM6.x has been out for a long time, it's obviously more feature-rich and probably more stable generally. WP7 is still very new so it will take a while before it could seriously compete in the enterprise space. Mobile Office is a great start but they'll need to do a bit more than that.

But using WP7, I definitely see how it's just all around more compatible with things than my iPhone 4. The PowerPoint presentation, for instance. Another example: at the university I attend, they have a secure Wi-Fi hotspot with a complex security system that uses certificates. My iPad and iPhone 4 couldn't connect to it at all. They just don't recognize the type of security, I suppose. I thought I'd have to sit through pages of tweaking to get it working on my WP7, but it just went "Connecting... Connected!" and it really surprised me. As a person who jumped from iPhone to WP7, there are a lot of things I really miss, but generally, I'm very happy to try something new.

 

[Winni]

Of course you get it free. That's the only thing Microsoft is good at - illegally leveraging a monopoly in one market (office suites) to obtain marketshare in another market.

Oh, you mean just like Apple adds iTunes and the Mac AppStore to their operating system, leveraging their own position to keep their customers from using alternatives? Or like they usually do not allow competing applications on their iOS platform? You mean this kind of anti-competitive behavior?

 

[roadbloc]

Oh, you mean just like Apple adds iTunes and the Mac AppStore to their operating system, leveraging their own position to keep their customers from using alternatives? Or like they usually do not allow competing applications on their iOS platform? You mean this kind of anti-competitive behavior?

Since iTunes is free, and the Mac App Store promotes lots and lots of 3rd party developers software, I cannot really see the logic in your post.

Saying that, nor can I see the logic in cmaier's post. It's utter rubbish. There is no better Office suite out there than Microsoft Office. I can't see how they are leveraging any market by providing an Office Suite with the best range of features at such an affordable price. Your links are also fanboyish FUD btw.

 

[John.B]

Lots of estimates put it at around 1.8 sold to consumers, and 2.0 shipped in general. The WP7 sales figures are not disappointing. It's a new platform and has had much stronger initial momentum thus far than iPhone and Android did given the same time span. At the very least, people shouldn't give up on it yet.

Via Gruber: http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/01/microsoft-mobile-market-share-falls.html

If they are activating WP7 in the numbers you claim, it's at the expense of WinMo 6.x so I'm not buying the "much stronger initial momentum" argument:

Windows Phone 7 had lower market share than either Android or webOS did in their debut quarters, according to NPD data.

 

[JAT]

Lots of estimates put it at around 1.8 sold to consumers, and 2.0 shipped in general. The WP7 sales figures are not disappointing. It's a new platform and has had much stronger initial momentum thus far than iPhone and Android did given the same time span. At the very least, people shouldn't give up on it yet.

I think there would be more sales if their commercial didn't say, "WP7, the phone you don't want to use."

Seriously, who thought up that campaign?

 

[cmaier]

Oh, you mean just like Apple adds iTunes and the Mac AppStore to their operating system, leveraging their own position to keep their customers from using alternatives?

Huh? Apple may have a monopoly on iTunes, but they also give it for free to windows users, hence they aren't leveraging their itunes monopoly to achieve a monopoly in desktop OS's.

Not sure what your point is with respect to appstores? That apple is leveraging its monopoly on desktop OS's (it doesn't have one to leverage) to obtain a monopoly on software sales?

Or like they usually do not allow competing applications on their iOS platform? You mean this kind of anti-competitive behavior?

Again, Apple does NOT have a monopoly in smartphone OS's, so it can't be illegally leveraging the monopoly.

Read my post again: it's illegal when you leverage an existing monopoly to try and obtain sales in an unrelated area. Apple has no existing monopolies to so leverage (other than iTunes, maybe, but, as I pointed out, they give that for free to windows users).

 

[mKTank]

Via Gruber: http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/01/microsoft-mobile-market-share-falls.html

If they are activating WP7 in the numbers you claim, it's at the expense of WinMo 6.x so I'm not buying the "much stronger initial momentum" argument:

Not necessarily. And Windows Phone 7 is a different world from Windows Mobile 6.x. It's not even remotely close to being the same platform. Microsoft couldn't care less about Windows Mobile. Either way, you're wrong that if WP7 has to succeed, that it would directly eat away at WM6.x sales. If anything, most of the WP7 users probably come from iOS and Android. It makes more statistical sense. Ah, why am I arguing? You people said the same thing about Android and look where it ended up. And now Android tablets are eating away at the iPad market share.

I think there would be more sales if their commercial didn't say, "WP7, the phone you don't want to use."

Seriously, who thought up that campaign?

Somebody smarter than you. It's not "the phone you don't want to use," but more like "the phone that will do x faster than other phones so that you can go back to living your life more."

But naturally you people have to misinterpret it completely, having been conditioned by idiot-proof commercials like Apple's straight-shot "PC vs Mac" commercials.

 

[eah2119]

I just don't see this happening. I think it'll be at least a few years before MS does it.

 

[John.B]

And now Android tablets are eating away at the iPad market share.

Well that's what we thought, before a Samsung exec had his feet held to the fire today in a quarterly financials conference call and had to admit their "sales guidance" numbers were merely units stuffed in the channel, not actual retail sales. I believe the quote was that actual retail sales of the Galaxy S were "quite small".

Microsoft, and now Samsung... Say what you want about Sarbanes–Oxley, the one thing it changed is that executives can't hand out bald-faced lies to investors anymore without suffering personal legal repercussions.

 

[cmaier]

? You people said the same thing about Android and look where it ended up. And now Android tablets are eating away at the iPad market share.

.

We also said the same thing about Palm.

And you better take a second look at those android tablet sales.

 

[JAT]

Somebody smarter than you. It's not "the phone you don't want to use," but more like "the phone that will do x faster than other phones so that you can go back to living your life more."

But naturally you people have to misinterpret it completely, having been conditioned by idiot-proof commercials like Apple's straight-shot "PC vs Mac" commercials.

I see. So, your bias is "smarter" than my bias. Gotcha.

I promise, I'm not LOLing at your genius.